revisiting the filigree house in Zanzibar

My first camera in 2002 was a point and shoot with what is now a severely limited memory of 16MB. No wonder then that my early posts on Zanzibar were grainy. So when I went back in November 2005 with a dSLR, I had to try to recapture the scenes that struck me as glorious before. Expectedly, they captivated me once more.


a house at the Kelele Slave Market Square, Stonetown, Zanzibar, East Africa, taken January 28, 2002
Olympus C900Z/D400Z, 1/136s, f/4.4, ISO 100


Take the balcony facing the old Kelele Slave Market Square at Shangani St, Stonetown for instance. A witness of the infamously torturous history of the island which served as the premier slave trading post of East Africa in the 16th to the 19th century, this building remains a wonder of fusion. The floral fretwork is an achievement of both Indian and Swahili workmanship but with a strong hint of Arabic tessallation. Under the directionally horizontal light of the setting sun, the balcony’s wooden lace scrollwork gave out shadows that are nothing short of entertaining.


the same house, taken November 9, 2005
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/320s, f/5.6, 49mm, ISO 400